A huge thank you to ....

So glad that you have negotiated that minefield and come out the other side!

... and also a reminder to others not to try and complete the AA form without some help. The relevant government agency will send out someone to help you. You can also go to Age UK, CAB etc.

It is some years since I was involved in work as a benefits advisor, but I lost count of the number of times I was sent out to complete forms and successfully get AA for people who had applied without help and been turned down. I used to describe the form as like a set of exercises that you had to get exactly right; there were certain words that needed to be used, certain key questions, key concepts, that needed to be answered in an absolutely 'correct' way to get AA.

Good. Oh jogginggirl .

Well done! My first hurdle was to get DH to agree in principle. Now to work on downloading the form. I think there may be hurdles still to clear

Good news JG

Thanks for the update JG, that is good news. As has already been said, it's a timely nudge to those of us who think we can complete these difficult forms appropriately without some advice from those who know the key words and phrases that get boxes ticked.

I am used to forms and filled in the form with confidence only to have the request refused.
I went to the CAB and asked for help. The AA was then granted and helped to pay for help for my Mother.

Alea may I suggest you just ring for the forms, if you are successful the allowance is backdated to the day you make the request, I am not sure how that would work with downloading. I think you have something like 6 weeks to return them.

Alea This web page gives you numbers to phone to get a claim pack. You will need to give them DH's national insurance number. I often had to do this for CAB clients to make sure that the payments were backdated to the date of the call.

If you are going to claim AA, do make sure you get the DHSS [or whatever they are called] to send you the forms. They are extant for 6 weeks, and however long it takes for them to process it, they will backpay it to the date they sent it to you.

My DH works at CAB/Age Concern locally helping people fill in their forms + Blue Badges and reccommends this.

PS a friend DH helped in October, has just received her AA with over £800 back payments because they took so long to process it!

Its longer if it has to come to us ( the appeals tribunal)